20 Scariest Horror Movie Moments Of The 21st Century

There’s a plethora of skin-crawling moments across the numerous films in the “Grudge” franchise, but the climax of the first film in the series to get a Japanese theatrical release is the most dizzyingly horrible.

There’s a plethora of skin-crawling moments across the numerous films in the “Grudge” franchise, but the climax of the first film in the series to get a Japanese theatrical release is the most dizzyingly horrible.

There’s something to be said for a fear that truly paralyses the senses, which so occurs when protagonist Rika has a final reckoning with franchise boogeywoman Kayako. After peering around a pitch-black attic, Riko is shocked by the sudden movement of the ghost, fleeing downstairs. It’s here she realises her fate is sealed, and that escape is impossible. So, in lieu of screaming in hysterics, she simply watches, transfixed to the spot, as Kayako makes her agonisingly slow descent down the staircase.

It’s the crushing fear of the inevitable that freezes Riko, as well as the viewer, unable to look away. The jump scare in the attic is effective, but the image of Kayako and her unnatural crawl down the staircase creeping steadily into the frame, closer and closer, is what permeates dread.

No scary scene is complete without hair-raising audio, and sure enough, Kayako’s appearance is accompanied by her famously hideous signature croak. Emitting from the throat of hell wrapped in barbed wire, her renowned moan of greeting is a sound no one wants to hear while trapped in a desolate house of horrors.